Think-Tac-Toe: Using Choice Boards in the Language Arts Classroom

Choice as Differentiation Students like to feel as though they are in control of their learning. Setting up Choice Boards, Menus, etc. allows you to give students choice while controlling the complexity of the activities. Most of the time, these boards can be created based from Bloom’s Taxonomy

Example—based on Bloom’s

Create a pair of collages that compares you and a character in the book. Compare and contrast physical and personality traits. Label your collages so viewers understand your thinking. Write a bio-poem about yourself and another about a main character in a book so your readers see how you and the character are alike and different. Be sure to include the most important traits in each poem. Write a recipe or a set of directions for how you would solve a problem and another for how a main character in the book would solve a problem. Your list should help us know you and the character. Using a digital tool, write a greeting card that invites us into the scenery and mood of an important part of the book. Be sure the verse helps us understand what is important in the scene and why. Make a digital model or map of a key place in your life and an important one in the novel. Find a way to help viewers understand both what the places are like and why they are important in your life and the characters’. Make 2 timelines. The first should describe 6-8 shifts in setting in the book. The second should explain and illustrate how the mood changes with the change in setting. Using quote books, find at least 6-8 that you feel reflect what’s important about the novel’s theme. Find at least 6-8 that do the same for your life. Display in digital form and explain your choices. Interview a key character from the book to find out what lessons he/she thinks we should learn from events in the book. Make sure the interview is thorough. *This can be done in groups of 2. Find several songs you think reflect an important message from the book. Prepare an audio collage. Write an exhibit card that helps your listener understand how you think these songs express the book’s meaning.

From Ignite Student Intellect and Imagination in Language Arts Distinguish between fiction and nonfiction books. What makes them similar? How are they different? Write a book review to suggest a good fiction and nonfiction book for a friend to read. Briefly describe each book and give a short synopsis of its content. Survey at least 10 students in your Reading class to determine their favorite fiction and nonfiction book. Analyze the results of the survey and create a graph as a display. Compare and contrast a fiction and nonfiction book on the same topic or subject. How are they alike and different? Design an original book cover for on the the books in your reading level. Consider why some people prefer to read books that are nonfiction rather than fiction for pleasure. Write an argument for which type you like best. Give reasons why. Prepare a list of of classical and contemporary books that you would recommend to someone your age. Use the Internet to help you! Determine your criteria for a good novel. Compare the current novel you’re reading up against those criteria. How can someone tell the difference between a classical text and a contemporary text? Give examples of each.

Example—Rikki Tikki Tavi Summarize the plot of Rikki Tikki Tavi using a plot diagram. Write a letter from Brittney Spears to Jessica Simpson explaining the plot of Rikki Tikki Tavi. Create a storyboard of Rikki Tikki Tavi using any pictures and images. Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast either Rikki Tikki Tavi or Nagaina with a character in another story we have read. Write a song/poem/rap in which you comare Rikki Tikki Tavi to a famous person. Make sure you make it clear how they are similar. Write a dialogue between Rikki Tikki Tavi and someone you know in which they discuss how they are alike and different. Use appropriate dialogue punctuation. What will happen next? Write a letter to the author about what you think the next installment of the story would be. Include two pages of new text that could go in the next story. What will happen next? Create a six-frame comic strip in which you continue the story beyond its ending. Use your favorite comic strip maker tool. What will happen next? Create a story map for the next installment of this book. Use this map to help you: http://www.readwrite think.org/files/resources/interactives/storymap/

Journal Entry: Would you rather have had Casey hit a homerun at the end of the poem? Why or why not? Journal Entry: Why do you think this poem has remained popular for so many years? Support your stance with text and world examples. Journal Entry: What personal connections can you make to the poem? Tell of a time when you were in a position like Casey’s. You are a casting director for a movie studio. Your job is to select actors to portray major characters in “Casey at the Bat” in a film. Who would you choose? You must give reasons for your choices. Select on of the characters from the poem “Casey at the Bat” and design a trading card for him. What information is needed? What nice-to-know info can be included? Create this digitally. Choose a popular athlete of today and compare him/her to Casey. Use a graphic organizer (such as a Venn Diagram) detailing the similarities and differences of the two athletes. Create a narrative poem about your favorite athlete. Must be at least six stanzas in length and contain both end rhyme and internal rhyme. Prepare six or more consecutive stanzas of the poem to perform to the class. You need to dress up to enhance your performance. Read the article, “Where the Mighty Casey Struck Out.” It explains how Thayer reacted to the fame he earned as the author of “Casey.” How might you have responded if you were in his situation? Explain.

General Board for Vocabulary…   Create an acrostic poem. Write the word ‘government’ vertically on a piece of computer paper. Each letter is used in the construction of phrases or sentences to describe the six words. Be creative with the letters in Government. Make two continuums or spectrums. Place the following words autocratic, democratic, and oligarchic on one continuum with “I wouldn’t want to live there” on one side and “I want to live there” on the other. Do the same thing with the other three words. Then write a 6-7 sentence paragraph explaining your positions on the continuum. Create an analogy to go with each of the six vocabulary words. Analogies can help to explain an unfamiliar concept by making a comparison to something that we do understand. Create a bubble map for each of the six words. You should brainstorm at least four synonyms for each word and put them on the bubble map Neatness counts. Create a simile for each of the six vocabulary words. A simile is a comparison of two things or ideas using like or as. It is not enough just to write the simile, you must explain it too. Bonus for illustrations Create a facial expression matrix. Create a table or matrix with six boxes for each of the six words. Draw heads with pertinent facial expressions and related thought bubbles to summarize how a person would feel living under that government. Create a crossword puzzle using the six words. Make sure that you include the clues at the bottom. You can not use the definition your teacher gave you – you must create your own clues. Categorize the six words into two groups. Then write a 4-5 sentence paragraph explaining why each word fits into category you put it in. Create a riddle for each of the six vocabulary words. Your riddle should have a minimum of four lines, should be written in the first person and the last line should be “what am I?” Make sure you have an answer key.

OPTION: Centers MAP-based Choice Boards You can develop the choice boards based on RIT bands in DesCartes. Some options can be used on ANY strand. Make each strand a different FONT TYPE or COLOR to help you differentiate between each strand.

Lots more examples… http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/Choice+Bo ards www.pvusd.net/extensionmenus http://www.rcs.k12.tn.us/rc/instruction/ttt/ttt.htm